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I won an autcion on ebay for a 4 month old 21.5 Inch, 3.2g, 8gb, 500gb iMac for 1100 (best offer).

Old computer was ailing to say the least.. dell inspiron 600m.. 2 gb ram maxed, idk botu the cpu.. back light on screen was shot so i had to buy a monitor to plug into it..

We will use the iMac (shipping tuesday i hope) for the usualy, light-mod photo, beginner video, music play, internet movies, Civ 5 gaming, and face time, and maybe student work in the summer.

Couple of questions for the masses..

1. I remember reading a list of 'must have apps' on here that I couldnt seem to find. I know a lot of the entry level stuff.. iphoto, imovie, itunes, vlc. But what are some of the good freebies/paid ones to have? Really need something to open MS Excell and edit it. Our finances are in there.

2. I have a 1TB external Seagate drive, I've been on here before about that being used for Time Machine, but what should i format it as so I can use it?
And after i do that, is it just plug and play via Airport Ex Ba.St.? which i have yet to buy. anybody get that from appple referb? how was it? 180 is A LOT to pay.

3. I'm excited about Lion, I've been shopping for a mac since the release of Snow L. Anything i should know about that?

Hello and congrats from one switcher to another. You are going to love your imac.

You will soon likely find that the 'bundled' iLife apps and other apps that come with your mac are outstanding in their own right, but there are certainly plenty of free and paid apps that you have to choose from. Keep in mind that for Excel, you have the option of MS Office for native functionality on OS X. A good list of "must have" apps I found here: 35 Absolutely Essential Mac Apps | Mac.AppStorm This site also adds a great deal of info and review of the apps with some candid feedback from users.

You can let Time Machine format the external HDD for you. Its extremely plug and play and if you have the option of Firewire, use that for improved speed. I dont have any experience with Airport base station.